Okefenokee Swamp, Folkston, Georgia

“What story shall I tell you today?” I asked myself. A little something crossed my mind and it made me giggle to myself so, there we go. It’s a little story about Okefenokee Swamp http://www.okefenokee.com located in southern Georgia. They have since updated the name to Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge to be inviting to tourists. Really guys? That so does not change the fact that this sucker is a SWAMP. Meets all the swamp criteria.. green marsh and these ever so wonderful creatures by the name of alligator that will eat your face off. I’d much rather call them boots, belt, maybe a nice purse since I’ve taken this excursion, but alas no such luck.

Let me start off before that of mentioning my day. I managed to get out of the gym after leg day and while I may have noticed it a bit, it wasn’t until I began to type later and attempted to stand up. For the love of white rice, wow. The stairs are my nemesis of the day. So forgive me if I cry mommy a few times during this story.

Well, if you ever end up in my presence and there’s something with either a bit of adventure or that is just plain a** crazy, I will probably push you to do it. Just saying. As scared as I may be of whatever it is, my purpose in life is to ensure you play, no matter how bad of an idea it may be.

On this particular day, we show up at the swamp, aka… wildlife refuge and within the first 2 minutes we find the first 4-foot alligator sunning itself on the embankment but feet in front of us. Neat, right? Sureeeee, it was neat alright. So, what’s the next step? No, we did not feed the thing, we’re not that crazy (ok ok, that’s a different level of crazy). Instead we went into the little shack where they rented boat tours, or canoes and kayaks. I’m thinking the pontoon boat was so not the way to go you didn’t have to do any work. Shessh, if it’s easy, it’s certainly not going to be fun. On the other hand, my traveling companion was thinking canoe. I’m like “canoe you p*sssy, naw, if you are going to do it, go big or go home, we’re going with kayaks”. The question then became, “do you want a double or to go singles?” Of course, my competitive side led to “singles, obviously”. Alright then, singles it is. Tell me what part of a good idea this was. What could possibly go wrong???

Kayaks… Check!

We get in our kayaks and push off into the alligator infested waters because it’s obviously a great idea. (insert sing song voice here) Paddle paddle paddle, de-ta-de, all is well, and here we go, sun is shining, this is great. The water was about 15 feet across, which left plenty of room to move around, no problem, right? Sure. Here comes alligator number two for our day. He’s crossing from one side to the other side right in front of us. Ah crap, this is all bad. As he’s swimming on the surface, he dives and we float over. Phew, no problem. We’re alive, he’s somewhere else, and we are golden. Paddle paddle paddle, and here comes number 3. Same strategy. No problem. I think we have this down. Alligators zero, expert kayakers (ok, maybe novice, and seen a kayak once) 3. No problem, we got this covered and then comes the next bright idea. Here comes the sign that says, turn here and has an arrow. Who wouldn’t want to follow the arrow??? The arrow is awesome. It’s an arrow for Godsake. It’s like a rule, you must follow. We can see the path is but a few feet wide and it seems perfect for a kayak. We’re taking it… obviously….

Check back with me and I’ll tell ya all about it tomorrow…

Enjoy your travels if you are out there doing your thing! I’m going to make an attempt at this walking and feeling my legs thing 😉 Have a great night.

About the Author

I have an undying passion for travel and exploring the unknown (at least to me). My curiosity and the military previously transported me around the world a few times only furthering my need to see more. Different cultures and people intrigue me. Learning new ways to do things, eating new foods, and dancing to a tune is part of my soul. Being able to just pack up and go with no real idea of where I'm going is what I call fun...now, I'm going to take you all along for the ride.